Project Rhino K9 Unit: Defending African Wildlife

Dear friends and supporters

A quick overview of what has been happening with our K9 team in the heart of Zululand, KwaZulu-Natal.

It is with sadness that we said farewell to our K9 project manager, Mr Eric Dickson, who withdrew from the unit at the end of March due to our current financial constraints. We would like to thank Mr Dickson for his passion, dedication and endless hours of tireless work to establish the K9 unit in Zululand. He made incredible headway with relationship building with the reserves, local police (SAPS) and the broader community, and with Mr Dickson’s assistance, it has also been made very clear how valuable a K9 Unit is in the landscape.  We wish Eric all the best in his future endeavours.

Despite this, it has been a period full of action as our K9 Unit has been called out numerous times to rhino reserves; including a number of airlifts into the bush, and overnighting at satellite camps. The Unit continues to be instrumental in the tracking and deterrence of suspects and it was elected as one of the most valuable Project Rhino initiatives by the 25+ Zululand reserve members in the ongoing fight against wildlife crime (together with ZAP-Wing, our "eyes in the sky," aerial anti-poaching wing).

The team has also gained two invaluable four-legged members. We replaced Goose (a tracking dog) with Baily who is a tracking and detection dog and gained Spook, an eight-week, black ball of fluff, who is desperate to join the team in the field. A Dutch Shepard, Spook is gaining valuable exposure to local working conditions, and is already confident around the varied scents and sounds found in the Zululand bush.

The canines received a wonderful surprise this month, when Marltons donated them toys, leashes, beds, blankets and a whole trailer load full of treats! We would also like to send a huge thank you to IFPCP, Alpha Security, WESSA Lowveld, MSD Animal Health, Mr Duncan Paul, Mr Michael Rea and Ms Sharon Hahn for your kind donations over the period – we would not be able to function without your support and generosity.